Danish industrial biotech giant providing enzyme engineering, fermentation, and biocatalysis for biorefinery, circular economy, and food applications across Europe.
Novozymes is a global leader in industrial enzyme production and biological solutions, headquartered in Denmark. Across H2020, they contribute enzyme engineering, fermentation technology, and biocatalysis expertise to projects converting waste biomass, marine resources, and municipal solid waste into bio-based chemicals, fuels, and materials. Their work spans the full biorefinery value chain — from metagenomic screening and protein engineering to semi-industrial scale fermentation — serving sectors like food, textiles, detergents, and bioenergy. They act as the industrial enzyme partner that translates laboratory discoveries into commercially viable biological processes.
Core contributor across INMARE (marine enzyme mining), METAFLUIDICS (metagenomic screening), EnzOx2 (enzymatic oxidation), OXIPRO (oxidoreductase foundry), ES-Cat (directed evolution), and ProteinFactory (protein secretion).
Participated in BIOSKOH (second-generation bioeconomy), URBIOFIN (municipal solid waste biorefinery), VAMOS (organic waste sugars), and MACRO CASCADE (macroalgal biorefinery).
Demonstrated in Aromagenesis (yeast strain engineering), Glaukos (fermentation for bio-based textiles), SMART PROTEIN (microbial biomass protein), and URBIOFIN (bioethanol/bioethylene production).
PIPPI focused on protein-excipient interactions in formulation, and ProteinFactory on protein secretion systems — both relevant to enzyme product development.
Recent projects OXIPRO (consumer products), Glaukos (textile circularity), ULTIMATE (industrial water symbiosis), and SMART PROTEIN (alternative proteins) show a shift toward circular and sustainable product applications.
In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), Novozymes focused on fundamental enzyme discovery — marine metagenomics (INMARE), high-throughput screening (METAFLUIDICS), and second-generation biorefinery chemistry (BIOSKOH). From 2019 onward, their portfolio shifted decisively toward applied circular economy solutions: converting municipal waste to chemicals (URBIOFIN), developing alternative proteins (SMART PROTEIN), bio-recycling textiles (Glaukos), and creating consumer-oriented enzyme products (OXIPRO). The trajectory is clear — from discovering new enzymes to deploying them in real-world circular value chains.
Novozymes is moving from upstream enzyme research toward downstream applications in circular economy, alternative proteins, and sustainable consumer products — expect future collaborations to focus on industrial deployment rather than discovery.
Novozymes consistently joins as an industrial participant rather than leading projects — zero coordinator roles across 16 projects, with 14 as participant and 2 as third party. They work in large, diverse consortia (238 unique partners across 27 countries), suggesting they serve as the go-to industrial enzyme partner that many academic-led projects want on board. Their role is to provide real-world enzyme production capability and industrial validation, not to set the research agenda.
Novozymes has built one of the broadest collaboration networks in the biotech space, working with 238 unique partners across 27 countries. Their reach is genuinely pan-European, with no visible geographic concentration — they are a sought-after industrial partner for consortia across the continent.
Novozymes brings something most academic or SME partners cannot: world-scale enzyme manufacturing and decades of commercial fermentation experience. For any consortium that needs to demonstrate industrial viability of a biological process, Novozymes provides instant credibility and a realistic pathway to market. Their willingness to join as a contributing partner (not demanding the lead) makes them an unusually accessible large-industry collaborator for EU projects.
